A magnifier is a computer program that magnifies (i.e., enlarges) areas of a display such as a computer display. Areas of a display may be magnified for various reasons. For example, the display may be magnified to assist those with low vision or to magnify a portion of the screen that has small type or images. The magnifier may be displayed on the display over the item to be magnified, and may be moved about the display by a user or by a process.
A magnifier may be used to magnify portions of a document, such as a word processing document. The document may have visible edges at its boundaries. For example, the edges may be straight lines, and may be arranged in a rectangular shape. The magnifier, when presented over the document, is centered over the portion being magnified. When the magnifier magnifies the visible edges of the document, the edges become discontinuous between the magnified portion and the unmagnified portions of the document because of parallax. Parallax may refer to apparent motion caused by differences in relative movement. In the context described here, parallax may refer to a condition where, because of the multiple points of view (e.g., the magnified portion and the unmagnified portions), the edges may become discontinuous (i.e., no longer appearing in a straight line as viewed through the magnifier). The discontinuity of the edges of the document may disorient or confuse a user of the magnifier.
Thus, what is needed is a magnifier without the limitations of conventional techniques.